Things to know about a church wedding

Getting married the church is not a walk in the park as everyone thinks it should be. There are regulations that must be followed and conditions that must be met before a church leader agrees to let you wed in his/her church. Here are some of the few things that couples who look forward to getting married in a church must note:

You obviously have to be a Christian. Most churches require that both the bride and groom be baptized under the same denomination, be it protestant or catholic.

The official time set by the church within which the wedding should be held is between 8 am and 6 pm.

All partners in the couple should be at least 18 years old.

The church nowadays caters for divorce. There is however a procedure you will have to dully comply with during the divorce process.

Most churches will not allow one to remarry if the divorce process for the previous marriage hasn’t been completed.

It is a requirement by most vicars that the banns should be read once every week three months before the wedding.

Contrary to the law, the Christian church doesn’t allow for same sex marriage as it contradicts the Christian belief.

It is not a must that you get married in the church that was responsible for your upbringing. Most Christian churches are connected in some way and one will therefore need a few documents just to confirm that they are a member of the church they allegedly belong to. You can therefore get married in a faraway church provided you are connected to it.

Both partners will need to prove their nationality to the vicar. The church may therefore request for the passports or the national identity cards.

It has become a popular trend with most churches that the couple should attend pre-marriage counseling sessions with the church’s counsellor. Couples exempted are those who have already undergone the counselling. Proof of classes should however be provided in such a circumstance.

A wedding church is not free. You will need to deposit some money with the church to cater for the wedding. There is no constant fee that has been set and the charges may vary depending on the church.

The marriage certificate has to be signed by two witnesses.

If you are wondering whether there are limitations on the days in which a wedding can take place, no there are not. However, the church doesn’t like to conflict weddings with other church events such as masses on Sundays. For this reason, other days have been left out, mostly Sundays. It is however a common practice for weddings to be scheduled for Saturdays.

Other than all these, it is important to note that you should book for the church wedding as early as you can, preferably more than six months before the wedding. Other churches may have their own unique requirements and so it is important for one to enquire from the leader what will be required of them before and during the big day.

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